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Read about Digital India scheme in details..
INTRODUCTION
The Indian government started the "Digital India" program in July 2015 with the goal of advancing the nation's digital capabilities by enhancing online infrastructure and expanding individuals' access to the internet (by connecting remote areas to high-speed internet networks, for example).
The three main goals of the initiative are as follows:
Create a dependable and safe digital infrastructure.
Provide online services
Make certain that every citizen gets Internet access.
All sectors are expected to benefit from the government's increased focus on building a digitally empowered economy, with the exception of core digital industries like electronics manufacturing, digital communication services, and information technology and business process management, which are expected to double their GDPs to US$ 355–435 billion by 2025.
The technology sector in India has generated more than US$ 250 billion in revenue, according to NASSCOM's (National Association of Software & Services Companies) Strategic Review 2023. This sector is expected to grow at a moderate rate of 3.8%, reaching US$ 253.9 billion by the end of the fiscal year 2023–24 in March. The number of employees in the technology sector increased by 60,000 in the fiscal year 2024, to a total of 5.43 million.
The "Digital India" project is anticipated to grow the nation's digital economy to US$ 1 trillion by 2025, according to a different McKinsey report.
NEED
The government launched the "Digital India" plan, which includes a number of initiatives like digital finance for digital inclusivity, mobile e-health services, and e-governance, in an effort to close this gap. With the help of programs like BharatNet, public Wi-Fi hotspots, and the digital ID program Aadhaar, the "Digital India" project is helping the nation—including its rural and small towns—to upgrade its internet infrastructure. In India, there were 67 internet users for every 100 inhabitants as of March 2024. Kerala ranked highest among the states with 87 people per 100, while Telangana came in second with 83.
A large portion of the populace has also been able to access the Internet thanks to the nation's cheap mobile data rates. The number of internet users in India as of February 2024 (including those using wired and wireless connections) increased from 911.03 million in January 2024 to 916.77 million, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.
The "Build for Digital India" program was introduced in 2019 by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Google to give engineering students the chance to develop technological solutions that are ready for the market.
MeitY and Amazon Web Services (AWS) worked together in January 2021 to open an applications lab for quantum computing in India with the goal of advancing research and development centered around quantum computing and facilitating novel scientific findings.
In order to create NDLM (National Digital Literacy Mission) centers and support digital literacy training in India, the government partnered with private sector businesses such as Amdocs, Cognizant, Cyient, Google, Intel, Microsoft, and Zensar Technologies.
Highlights of the Union Budget 2023–24 for the Digital India Mission:
The Union cabinet approved the Digital India program's development plan in 2023, allocating a total of Rs. 14,903 crore (US$ 1.9 billion) towards the digitization of the Indian economy.
FUTURE
The increasing number of universal payments interface (UPI) users in India is a clear indication that the country's population is moving toward a digital lifestyle. Moreover, there was a 147% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in the amount of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions, which rose from 92 crore in FY 2017–18 to 8,375 crore in FY23. In a similar vein, UPI transaction value increased at a 168% CAGR from Rs. 1 lakh crore (US$ 12.04 billion) in FY 2017–18 to Rs. 139 lakh crore (US$ 1,672.8 billion) in FY23. The goal will be to build a knowledge economy and a digitally enabled society that can compete on a global scale in the digital era.
Artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things, cloud computing, blockchain technology, and robotics are just a few of the new technologies that the government may leverage to help India's digital and technological sector thrive. A McKinsey analysis projects that by 2025, the digital economy would likely generate 60–65 million new jobs. The government is positioned to take advantage of this opportunity and generate an economic value of US$ 1 trillion from the digital economy by 2025 with the "Digital India" agenda.